James Bond’s Dinner Jackets by Colour: Black, Midnight Blue and Ivory

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Do you prefer James Bond in a black, midnight blue or ivory dinner jacket? The following infographic shows each colour of Bond’s dinner jackets (also known as Tuxedos) by film. Black and midnight blue dinner jackets make up part of a dinner suit with matching trousers, whereas ivory dinner jackets are worn with black trousers.

James-Bond-Dinner-Jacket-Colours

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21 COMMENTS

  2. Hi Matt,

    Abit of an off topic question / observation: Did you notice that Alec Baldwin’s character in the latest Mission Impossible movie wears in a scene the blue / brown TND tie? Presumably picked it up at T&A that still sell that tie.

    S

  3. My own dinner suit is midnight blue, although it has contrasting black grosgrain shawl lapels and trimmings. I love the grosgrain, as it is more understated than satin. However, if I had it to do over again, I may not get contrasting lapels as they make the jacket look more blue than black in most lighting.

    • Are you sure your suit is midnight blue? True midnight blue should look black in dim lighting regardless of the facing colour. I personally see no reason to get midnight blue facings. It means you need a midnight blue tie or vest/cummerbund, which are hard to find or match precisely since almost no one makes them. Plus silk doesn’t reflect light the same way as wool does, so it doesn’t have the same advantage which is to look darker than black in dim lighting.

    • It is midnight, but it’s still blue. Dim lighting doesn’t show the contrast.

      And the difficulty of finding matching accessories is the reason I opted for contrasting lapels.

  4. I too own a midnight blue diner suit with grosgrain shawl lapel but they are matching midnight as well. I couldn’t be happier with it. Other than it has a medium low rise trousers. Next time I’ll get double forward pleats. I’d rather feel like Sean than Dan. The midnight dinner jacket certainly has risen in popularity since Skyfall ( I think because of the poster making it more blue, many people mistakenly believe QOS was black) but it still is unique when out in formal settings and really does look more black in soft lighting at night. Black reflects too much so when next to the darkest shadows in the room or night sky it does appear lighter in contrast than midnight, which its highlights stay a dark blue which seems like a darker value.

    • Mine has a natural rise, double forward pleats, and some drape in the chest, so the fit is more in line with Connery’s dinner suits than Craig’s. But I don’t believe Connery’s suits ever had contrasting lapels/trimmings. My lapels are also wider than Connery’s, which is my own preference.

      • Correct, Connery’s midnight blue dinner jackets always had midnight blue silk lapels and covered buttons. Craig’s midnight blue dinner jackets have not only black silk lapels and covered buttons but also black silk pocket jettings. Black facings can draw attention to the blue body, but blue facings look more noticeably blue than the blue body. There are arguments in favour of both, so it’s all down to personal taste.

    • I prefer black. Under artificial light the contrast between black silk and midnight blue body isn’t so apparent. It’s also much easier to find accessories to match black. Though blacks aren’t all the same, there is more variation in midnight blue, within an already more limited selection.

  5. Matt,
    I hate to keep banging on about Never Say Never Again (I seem to be to my ears, anyway) but there is a lovely little (fortuitous?) space on your graphic below The Living Daylights and above Moonraker where you could fit Connery’s final Bond film, or grant an honorary mention at least! He is playing the same character, after all and he looks awesome in that outfit, every bit as much Fleming’s Bond as his other performances. The graphic is so pleasing to the eye, it seems a shame to leave it out. Niven spoof aside, it has as much right to be there as any other seriously-played Bond film. Even if you have to introduce a new coloured circle!

    It’s your decision, of course…

    • You’re right that it would fit perfectly in there, but I don’t consider it part of the Bond series and don’t feel that it should ever be mentioned along with the rest of the Bond films. It has nothing to do with the quality of the clothes or the film (I like it more than a few of the official Bond films), just that it’s not part of the series. If I include Never Say Never Again, I think the 1967 Casino Royale has just as much right to be included. Peter Sellers wore a beautiful midnight blue dinner suit as “James Bond”.

  6. Midnight blue. It reminds me of the service dress of a Royal Navy officer, which of course Bond is. That being said, both of the dinner suits I’ve owned have been black. The tailor who ran up one of them advised against getting it in blue. He said that the chemical in fluorescent lights which made blue appear black has not been used for years so there was no point. Other people deny this. Fascinating to see that Bond will wear an ivory dinner jacket in Spectre – almost 30 years after we last saw him in one in AVTAK. They must have realized what “blend in” means to a chap who gets about in an Aston Martin…

    • You’re right that it looks very black there, and if it was blue it would look blue in daylight. I could just be lighting that makes it look blue in some scenes. I’ll look into it further.

  8. Why does Bond prefer midnight blue to black? I see that many people older than 18 very rarely wear black of anything but shoes, belts and socks in formal wear? Is it because of the rule “black is mainly for funerals”? I have noticed that Pierce Brosnan and Daniel Craig have both worn 3 midnight blue tuxes versus one black tux. Both wore their black tuxes in casinos. Are there certain occasions and places where either black or midnight blue is better than the other, like in a casino? I know that ivory and white should only be worn in more casual and tropical settings. To clarify what i am asking, are there certain places and time settings where you would wear midnight blue over black or black over midnight blue?

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